Page 25 of Home: Posy 5

"No one is sending you anywhere," I told him, my tone fierce. "Not ever. You areneverleaving this pack, okay?"

"You don't know that," he whispered.

"Idoknow that. Arch and I would never allow that to happen. Neither would Luna Posy."

"She wouldn't?"

"No, she wouldn't. I promise you, no one is ever,evertaking you away from me and Arch. We'd run away with you first."

"But Dad Nathan got mad at us for pranking Wade."

"Yeah, he did, and he punished us for it. That's it. Over and done."

"We got punished?"

"Yeah, we got punished." I laughed and kissed his forehead. "We had to do all the dishes, remember?"

"That was punishment? But it was fun! And it helped Mom Evie."

I smiled. He thought anything we did together was fun, and he got a lot of pleasure out of helping others, so of course that didn't seem like a punishment to him.

"It was still a punishment." I shrugged.

"No hits?"

"No hits."

"No whipping?"

"No, baby." I had to stop and swallow the tears in my throat. "No whipping. Not ever."

"Dad Nathan said no cage, but what about being locked in the dark? I don't like the dark."

"I know you don't, and no, no being locked in the dark. We got you those nightlights, remember? One for my room and one for Arch's room. No more sleeping in the dark."

"What about no food for three days?"

"No one will ever stop you from eating," I said in a shaky voice. "Listen, all those punishments Mommy Daddy gave you were wrong. Arch and Spring already told you that, remember? In fact, Mommy Daddy were so wrong, the king punished them for doing those things to you."

"He did?"

"Yep. He sent Mase to punish them." I was treading on thin ice. None of the adults wanted Thoreau to know what Mase did to the alpha and luna of Gray Shadows.

Don't tell him,Ocean warned me. Mom and Dad will be mad, and who knows what Beta Emerson will do?

I know, Osh, but he fears getting sent back there so much, I want to tell him so he won't have that threat constantly lurking in the back of his mind.

"But Mommy Daddy are big and powerful!" Thoreau whimpered. "Wasn't Alpha Mason scared? Did he get hurt? Mommy Daddy are so strong!"

"No one is stronger or more powerful than Mase except for the king, Cole, and luna. Mase took care of it, so don't you worry. Got it?"

"Uh-huh. But what if Mama gets mad at me about something else? Won't he send me back there?"

See what I mean?I growled at Ocean.

Yeah,he sighed.Go ahead and tell him. The worst Dad can do is take your dirt bike, and all Beta Emerson can do is forbid you from seeing Reau, and even that won't last long.

"You know what we're going to do?" I shuffled us a bit so we were facing each other. "We're going to sit down with your mama and papa and make a list of punishments they'd give you if you everwerebad enough to need one. That way, you'll know what to expect. How does that sound?"

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